President & CEO’s Message

As for so many others, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought immediate and dramatic impacts to our lives and the work we do. The success of our mission to save animals, place them in loving homes and advocate for a better Oahu for pets and people, relies on deep and committed community involvement in the best of times. In these challenging times, our community is a vital life-line. And so it is with much gratitude in my heart that I have watched as our community rallied to protect our island’s animals.

On Tuesday, March 17, we put out a request for emergency foster volunteers. In just one week, we had hundreds of volunteers asking for appointments to emergency foster our animals. And at the time of writing this, we have nearly 250 animals in foster care, and that number continues to grow.

On any given day we have an average of 100 animals in medical foster care. These pets are too young, or too ill to be adopted immediately. Our committed medical foster care volunteers have been heroic, caring for our neediest, and stepping up to emergency foster as well.

I’m grateful to our dedicated volunteers who come in to help us care for the animals rain or shine. They walk dogs, enrich cats, do laundry, assist with veterinary care and do a hundred other tasks that help keep us going and our animals cared for.

Our staff has leapt to the challenge brought by this pandemic. They have been tenacious, creative, calm, hard-working and, above all, have demonstrated a dedication to do whatever it takes to care for the animals, the community and each other.

Our partners in city and state government have responded to the many needs, questions and requests from the animal welfare community with speed, grace and a determination that pets will not be left behind in our collective response to this crisis.

Our donors have not wavered in their support, knowing that all the life-saving work we do is underpinned by having the resources and the funds day-to-day to deliver care.

Our board has been a pillar of strength and guidance as we navigate this unprecedented time.

It’s my firmly held belief that no shelter or animal rescue organization can do it alone. It takes a community. And now, when our community is being tested like never before, Oahu has shown up to powerfully declare that our animals matter. I’m deeply grateful.

We are responding to events as they unfold in real-time. We are adjusting our programs, schedules and procedures as this crisis progresses. But everything we do is focused on keeping our animals, our staff, and our community safe and healthy. To read updates on our latest adjustments, please visit HawaiianHumane.org/COVID-19.